


Scream

by MoogleTerra



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: Slave crown experiments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-29
Updated: 2014-06-12
Packaged: 2017-11-27 10:38:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/661021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoogleTerra/pseuds/MoogleTerra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Kefka puts the slave crown on Terra for the first time, Celes gradually starts seeing things differently.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

First, there was a scream. Shrill, high, screeching, and frantic. It cut through the steel corridor with ringing echoes.

The sound lurched Celes awake. Something inside of herself told her to close her eyes, go back to sleep; wrap the pillow around her head so that she could not hear any more of the sound. But the urge to go see what was going on was too powerful, so she slipped out of her bed and tiptoed to her door.

Once in the hallway, the sound was louder, continuing without a hint of stopping any time soon. Celes knew the voice that the scream came from, but kept hoping that it was somebody else as she crept down the corridor to the source of the screams, instinctually closing her hands around her ears as she got closer.

The reason behind the almost animalistic sounds could have been anything, Kefka trying something perverted, accidentally being hurt by his lightning, anything.

What Celes found on the other side of the door was much more gruesome.

Kefka had his hands wringing into Terra's shoulders, and he was looking desperate, trying to yell over her cries. There was a jeweled crown on Terra's brow, making Celes remember glimpsing Doctor Cid's sketches for a new invention.

And there was Terra, standing still in her nightgown, eyes wide, tears gushing down her cheeks, her mouth open and shrieking still.

Celes stood motionless in the doorway, unsure of what to make of the scene, stuck between wanting to run to them and try helping somehow or running off to get General Leo.

Kefka saw Celes finally and shouted something at her that she could barely make out.

"Go get Doctor Cid!"

She nodded, running off in her bare feet as fast as she could to the Research Facility to find the Doctor. She was hoping that somebody else would hear the screams coming from their corner of the palace, but knew that it was unlikely.

She ran past the cafeteria, storage rooms, out into the corridor that lead to the Emperor's chambers, through many more long hallways with the tall windows that showed the moon rising ever higher into the sky, and stars that blinked in and out of the clouds. The candles and chandeliers were snuffed out for the night, and the various other types of lamps were long burnt out as well, but Celes knew her way around the palace even in the dark by the pale light of the moon.

"What was that thing on her head?" Celes wondered as she sped into the double doors that led to the main research facility where Doctor Cid spent almost every waking hour and several sleep filled hours.

Celes slowed when she reached the back of the labs, where the enormous cylindrical glass tubes were stored, each glowing slightly with the eerie green fluid inside. The Doctor's study was tucked away behind his favorite glass tube: Shiva.

Inside, Celes found the Doctor pouring over a large text, taking notes with a pencil on a pad by the light of a few burning candles.

"D-Doctor Cid!" she gasped, panting from her run across the Palace, holding on to the doorframe for support.

The mustached man jumped in his seat, snapping his head around in confusion.

"Celes? What on earth? Why are you out of breath?" he asked worriedly, rising from his chair to go to her.

"It's…Terra," the blonde tried explaining, still breathing hard. Cid's face grew serious then, his eyebrows furrowing together as he grabbed a key and left the room.

"Doctor?" Celes asked, following behind him, confused by his expression.

She heard him muttering to himself quietly as he stalked past the tubes, the green light giving the Doctor an intimidating air, "…I told him not to do it so soon…that fool…it was not ready yet!"

"Doctor?" Celes demanded with her voice louder this time, wanting to know what was going on with Terra badly. She was not used to being kept in the dark.

"Get back to bed, Celes! Now!" Cid shouted, causing the girl to stagger back. He had never yelled at her before.

Celes grimaced back any retort she had, and went back to her wing of the palace quietly, not bothering to run anymore. As she walked back the way she came, she saw that the Doctor was waking up a few nurses to help him.

Back in Celes's room, she could still hear Terra screaming, and the sound did not cease until Doctor Cid and his nurses strapped the mint haired girl to a gurney and wheeled her away.

That night was the first of many that would be sleepless for Celes, Kefka, Doctor Cid, and the nurses.


	2. Chapter 2

The girl thrashed, still screaming, in her restraints. Tears still poured continually from her eyes, and the screaming still did not stop.

In the hospital wing of the Magitek Research Facility, Doctor Cid's shouting could barely be heard over the girl's never ending shrieks.

"Do you know what you've done?!" his deep voice bellowed, advancing on the blond soldier.

The nurses tried getting close to the girl to fasten more restraints around her legs and arms.

"I told you what might happen! How stupid can you be?" Doctor Cid went on, face red. The soldier broke into a body shaking sob, clasping at his mouth, eyes fixed on the girl's form on the gurney.

Two nurses held down her legs while another set the binds, and readied herself to do the same to the girl's arms.

"She might be lost forever because of this stupid little stunt of yours!"

The soldier shook his head, unable to speak.

Nurses started shouting just then. Doctor Cid whipped around, seeing that the girl had started casting fire spells. He ran over to the bed, ignoring the flames fizzing out of her hands, and pulled a syringe out of his pocket. Before the flames started shooting towards him, he stuck her in the arm with the needle.

She was still almost immediately. The nurses rushed off to get burn ointment for themselves without looking back.

Doctor Cid shook his head, "When did you even take the crown out of my office, Kefka?"

Kefka tried to calm himself with a few deep breaths before replying. "Yesterday, at lunch."

"Well, I'm going to remove the crown now. Hopefully, Terra will come around within the next few days."

Kefka moved up to Cid's side and looked down at the young girl.

 

* * *

 

There is something gratifying about pulling the dead skin off of one's fingers. Those little areas that suffer the worst wear right around the edges of the nails.

Celes would pick, tug, and rip away at the skin that pulled away around her nails as she watched through the glass window, taking in every detail of the room on the other side.

Sterile. White. Clean.

Wires, needles, and tubes went in and out of Terra's body.

Every few hours, a nurse would have to check the objects poking into Terra's skin to make sure that they had found a good vein. The nurses could not merely use the veins in her arms anymore due to the times that they shoved needles into them year after year.

By standing there on the other side of the window, watching quietly, Celes was acting defiantly.

Doctor Cid, her Doctor Cid, did not like her watching Terra every day. He would try to draw her away from her place at the glass with promises of sweets, which used to work when she was much younger. He would come up with reasons for her to leave like, "You haven't eaten yet today, have you?" and "The Emperor won't like it if he learns that you haven't been going to class."

To which Celes would reply in her cool voice, "I'm not hungry at the moment," and "I have all of my studies finished for the week. Class doesn't matter."

After his failed entreaties, Cid would either ignore Celes, or try to run her off by yelling at her, saying that she had no business being there, that she should go back to her bloody room and stay there.

But the girl stood her ground, staring icily into the room, waiting patiently for her doctor to leave her alone once more.

She wondered often about Cid's reasoning. Why should she leave? Why does he want her to leave? She and Terra were classmates, sparring partners, and friends. It would make sense that Celes would be worried sick if something happened to Terra. And something certainly did happen to her friend. That something was frightening, which puzzled Celes further. It took a lot to unnerve the blonde, the "Ice Queen" as she was nicknamed by the soldiers.

What did Doctor Cid want to hide from her? That was the biggest question Celes mulled over as she watched the rise and fall of Terra's chest, the drip, drip of her IV's, and the nurses who sometimes watched her back.

 

* * *

Terra dreamed a lot while she slept. Though the dreams were much different from her usual dreams of sunshine, flowers, red hazed sunsets, and the sea, which she had always wanted to see. Her new dreams were graphic and fantastical, filled with creatures that she had never seen before. They had horns protruding from their heads, unforgiving talons and claws; some were as tall as trees, while others were covered in scales that glittered like jewels. These creatures spoke to her in oddly calming voices, yet she couldn't understand their language.

And her dreams were full of blood too. Sometimes she would be trying to stay afloat in a bottomless bathtub filled with the iron and pungent mixture, only to swallow great gulps of it as she splashed and kicked. Sometimes she saw bodies on the ground before her, all torn apart, tissues and organs scattered in great meaty red heaps.

No matter how hard she tried, she was too tired to wake.

 

* * *

Celes's stomach growled at her loudly, calling her out of her reverie. She glanced at the white clock ticking away above Terra's hospital bed. It was late, nearly eleven o'clock, and she hadn't eaten anything at all that day. She watched Terra sleep for a few moments longer, silently making sure that she was alright, before Celes set off to her room for a snack. It was much too late to go to the cafeteria for a meal, so she would settle for some of the food she kept in her room in secret.

The halls were deserted and half of the gas lamps were put out for the evening. Celes walked briskly past the medical laboratories to the small set of stairs that led to her corridor.

And when she turned the corner, she ran into Kefka.

The blond man was on his hands and knees on the steel floor. At first glance, it looked like he was searching for a lost button or something along those lines. But the bolts of lightning fizzling the air around him suggested otherwise.

"What? Kefka?" Celes called, keeping her distance from the static forming around him. He didn't respond to her at all. Larger bolts of blue light crashed down from the ceiling, staining the floor around him with black scorch marks.

"Kefka? Hey, what's wrong?" Celes moved closer, edging her way along the wall to try to stay clear of his spells. Something was definitely off with him. Kefka clutched at his head as if in pain, and let out a shriek.

She knew it was reckless, and she would probably be scolded or worse later, but Celes hurried up to him and grabbed his shoulders as she knelt down. His shriek stopped short, his bright blue eyes jerking in her direction. The bolts struck farther away from the two, but the static remained in a big ball of energy around them, making Celes's hair stand on end.

Kefka winced from her touch, but she held firm, and asked again what was wrong with him. Before he could muster an answer, and he looked very much like he was going to answer her, Doctor Cid's voice boomed from down the hall.

"What in blazes? Kefka!" Tears welled up in Kefka's eyes then, and he looked to Celes desperately, now clinging to her as if he was terrified of the doctor.

Doctor Cid was nearly struck by one of Kefka's spells as he charged up to them, and pulled a syringe out of his pocket.

"How many of those does he carry around?" Celes wondered, eyeing the needle suspiciously.

Cid jabbed it into Kefka's arm fast and pushed the plunger down. The blond's spells disappeared as he slumped into Celes's neck and chest.

"Doctor Cid, what's going on?" she demanded, an arm wrapped around Kefka's back.

But again, the doctor ignored her, and pulled Kefka from her grasp. Celes tugged him back, not letting go.

"Why won't you tell me anything? First with Terra, now this!" She held Kefka there on the floor, glaring angrily up at Doctor Cid.

Cid rubbed at his temples with one hand, "I'll tell you soon, Celes, okay? Now, help me carry Kefka to the hospital wing."

How soon was soon? At least she got an answer out of him this time. Celes helped Cid pull Kefka to his feet and drag him by the armpits to a bed in the hospital. The blond man didn't stir once as they finally reached the infirmary and tucked him into a bed across from Terra.

Doctor Cid hooked him up to an IV and a heart monitor while Celes stood by with her arms folded against her chest, waiting.

Celes had intended on walking out with the doctor, but instead, he went into an adjoining room a few beds away and locked the door behind him without a word. She was really getting tired of being ignored. Celes let out a heavy sigh and walked back to her hall as nurses flooded into the room and bustled around the new patient.

For about the thousandth time within the last few days, Celes wished that Leo was there with her, so that she wouldn't have to be alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been getting more shy about posting my fics on here so yeah. Hope you guys like the update~


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